GMF is a nonprofit organization whose sole purpose is to reach less fortunate people in the world through continued medical/surgical missions. All officers, officials and participants in the mission of GMF are strictly volunteers, which mean that all funds raised and all medical supplies, essential life-saving drugs and badly needed medical equipment obtained go directly to the countries which the foundation visits.  A clinic was set up in  a poor neighborhood  of Cartagena where, according to Hazel Joyce, “people lined up at dawn to be seen by the American doctors waiting for hours in very humid, hot weather for what sometime seemed—by our standards—as some of the most basic needs, such as prenatal vitamins.” 

Dr. Bowhay remembers the excitement of some of the mothers after removing wax from their children’s ears. “The mothers acted as if we had done major surgery on their children when they suddenly could hear again.”  Surgeons performed at least 60 eye surgeries on people with cataracts and strabismus (lazy eye) that, in most cases, resulted in restoring 20-20 vision. Children as young as eight years old suffered from cataracts. In four days, this team who left believing they were the ones who benefited the most from their trip cared for approximately 550 people. “The impact of the opportunity for us to help these beautiful people, who expressed their gratitude with joyous smiles and appreciation, was beyond our belief,” said Joyce. SAH, along with several other Sutter affiliates in the Sac Sierra Region, donated valuable medical equipment and supplies.

Kids Against Hunger, a nonprofit agency that encourages school children to participate in the packaging of dried foods for the needy, donated meals for the mission, which provided 285,000 meals to the poor of Cartagena.  A major contributor was the Rotary Club of Jackson, which provided funding for the shipment of food and the purchase of medical supplies used.  Alan Roberts, the Jackson Rotary President, participated in the mission in a humanitarian capacity.  The group is now involved in generating grant funding to build a learning center in the neighborhood. GMF chooses the areas they serve based on requests from other agencies that have heard of them—in this instance it was another small local social agency in Cartagena called Granitos de Paz (Seeds of Peace).   The group will conduct its next mission to a remote area of the Philippines in February. If you are interested in donating to GMF or volunteering for upcoming missions, contact Dr. Mohammed Siddiqui at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Hazel Joyce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..